ELECTRONICS firm Filtronic has been boosted by confident stockmarket trading predictions.

The company, which employs more than 250 people in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, has recently seen its share price rise and was yesterday trading at 105p per share.

Stock market experts claim that despite an estimated £68m debt its share price remains heavily undervalued.

Brokers Evolution Beeson Gregory in their latest trading update say Filtronic has won market share in infrastructure and mobile phone handsets.

Bradford-based Filtronic, which manufactures microwave electronic applications, should benefit from continued growth in the mobile phone handset market this year.

Siemens and Filtronic customer Nokia remain confident that the market will grow by about ten per cent.

Further progress is thought to hinge on the roll-out of third generation (3G) phones.

Figures out earlier this year showed that sales across the group in the first six months fell to £123.9m from £146m.

Nevertheless, a tight control on costs meant operating profits were only marginally lower at £5.4m.

New models helped the company weather tough conditions in the global market, with sales of antennas for mobile phone handsets rising 29 per cent to £106m in the six months to November 30.

The trading update by Evolution Beeson Gregory says: "Filtronic offers strong technology, an excellent customer base and a strong product range."

The one gloomy note for Filtronic appears to be the continued poor performance of its semi-conductor division, which continues to affect the share price.

Evolution Beeson Gregory say it is continuing to lose about £1m a month from its semi-conductor business, which is based at the former Fujitsu factory in Newton Aycliffe.

Agreements signed with American firm M/A-Com and BAe Systems Avionics have so far failed to produce the required production volumes to enable the business to break even.